Ted Cruz at CPAC: I Would Not Be in Senate Without Sarah Palin

On Saturday at CPAC, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced former Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whose endorsement enabled Cruz to ultimately get in the Texas Senate primary runoff in 2012 and win, and said he would not be in the Senate without Palin.

“I would not be in the U.S. Senate today if it were not for Governor Palin,” Cruz said in gratitude.

Cruz said Palin, like him, drives the mainstream media “bat-crap crazy” because she is “fearless,” “principled,” and “courageous” while the mainstream media wants conservatives to “shut up and accept defeat and be timid.”

Cruz also simply said, “Sarah Palin picks winners,” in reference to Palin’s early support of candidates like Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rand Paul (R-KY), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and governors like Nikki Haley (SC) and Susana Martinez (NM), and former Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is now the state’s senator.

Palin, referring to Cruz as hailing from “Alaska’s little sister state,” praised Cruz as a senator who “chews barbed wire and spits out rust.”